By: Rodney Pienaar
The ministry of education has reported that 85 000 school learners are currently relying on the school feeding program for meals countrywide.
The program is aimed at making sure that the children are not hindered by hunger while attending classes, executive director at the ministry, Sanet Steenkamp said.
“The ministry has made progress in this regard and is still looking forward to registering more children during this year. The programme is not only for those children that do not have anything but any child that needs to be fed at school because it is very important that we as care givers make sure that children do not go to school on an empty stomach.”
Regardless of the program’s success, Steenkamp said that the program still has to infiltrate rural areas.
The education minister Katrina Hanse-Himarwa last week said that her ministry is challenged with a huge backlog of new infrastructure needs, in addition to a growing need for renovation and upgrading of existing but aging infrastructure.
“We have seen on various mediums including social media the circulation of videos on the poor schooling environment of some of our learners and staff, hence I am concerned with our average performance with regards to implementing and executing of our capital projects.”
“You will remember that I raised a similar concern last year on the same issue and I must therefore reiterate the need for improvement in this regard, by calling upon on those entrusted with this responsibility within the ministry and outside to turn around the situation, and ensure that capital projects are well managed and completed on time for the benefit of our education system,” she said.
